Body In The Basement
by Gail Cregg
Summary: Is this the end for Special Agent Gibbs? The team has a new case and this time it's personal. My first case fiction. Major spoiler for The Bone Yard.
1. Chapter 1

**Spoiler Alert - **Do not read this story if you have yet to see the episode The Bone Yard from season 2.  
**Author's Note **- This is my first attempt at a case fiction and an ongoing story.

* * *

Body In The Basement.

It was that time of the year again. The time when Gibbs home phone was unplugged and his cell phone either accidentally turned off or mysteriously missing. All his team knew about the calls from his ex-wife so Tony didn't try to call when they got a new case one Sunday. He just sent the team on their way and drove over to collect Gibbs.

As he drove toward Gibbs neighbourhood Tony knew he was probably going to find Gibbs working on his boat in the basement as Lt. Mann was away that weekend. Then again thought Tony smiling to himself where else would he be? The basement had Gibb's boat, his bourbon, his gun, his tools and his only tv. Not even the killing of Ari had changed the amount of time he spent there. Gibbs worked on his boat, drank, talked to visitors, ate, arrested suspects, sometimes slept and maybe even (Tony shuddered slightly at the thought) romanced his women there. He pulled up outside Gibbs house.

Walking past the car in the driveway he climbed the front steps and pushed open the front door. As he moved down the corridor he shouted out "Hey Boss we've got a case." Tony halted at the doorway then cautiously stepped forward onto the landing at the top of the stairs. The light was off and though he didn't know what something, as Abby would say, definitely felt hinky. He took the small torch he always carried out of his pocket and shone it down on the basement.

What he saw almost caused him to pass out. Nothing he had ever experienced had prepared him for what he saw below. Lying face down in a slowly congealing pool of blood was a man dressed in jeans and a grey sweatshirt. "Gibbs." Tony knew he should check to see if his boss was still breathing although from the amount of blood it looked unlikely he'd survived what appeared to be a vicious attack. Sheer terror at what he was about to confirm froze Agent DiNozzo at the top of the stairs for a second.


	2. Chapter 2

As he shone the torch on the stairs a voice came from behind him.  
"DiNozzo why are you standing in the dark?"  
Tony turns and pushes Gibbs back into the corridor and against the wall.  
"You'd better have a very good reason for manhandling me like that."  
"There's a....a....there's.."  
"DiNozzo!"  
"There's a body in your basement. Thought it was you. Had to protect the crime scene." Tony stutters.  
Gibbs headslaps Tony.  
"That's for thinking someone could get the better of me. Now why are you here?"  
"I came to tell you there's a case."  
"Call dispatch and get another team assigned that case. Ducky can look at that body before coming here. Get the others here now."  
"On it Boss." A very relieved Tony begins to make his calls.

**Next Chapter** - "My house. My case." Turf war with the FBI._  
_**Author's Note** - You didn't really think I'd kill off Gibbs did you?


	3. Chapter 3

NCIS Squad Room.

As the team exits the elevator Abby rushes across the bullpen. "Gibbs, Gibbs, Gibbs" she almost knocks him over with a full body hug. "I'm so glad you're alive." Barely breaking step and without spilling his coffee Gibbs gently disentangles from her as he casually replies "So am I Abs."  
"I'm running the fingerprints and DNA and analysing the blood. I'm just about to get started on the victim's clothes." "Get back to it then." Abby hugs him again before she leaves.

As the agents settle at their desks in walks Special Agent Fornell flanked by two of his colleagues.  
"Agent McGee, Officer David, DiNutso, Gibbs." Fornell sips his coffee.  
"Fornell." Gibbs sips his coffee."Conference room?" they ask simultaneously. Without another word they stride into the elevator and Fornell flicks the emergency stop switch. "What the hell are you playing at Jethro? Your basement is a crime scene which means you look good as the prime suspect. You know you can't investigate yourself. That's criminal investigation 101." Gibbs smiles.  
"What?"  
"Aww Tobias you said I look good. I never knew you cared." Fornell rolls his eyes.  
"As a suspect Gibbs. You look good as a suspect."  
"My house. My body. My case."  
"Thought so. I'll do all I can to help of course. I owe you." Fornell restarts the lift.  
"See you do care." Gibbs grins.

Stepping into the squad room Gibbs is pleased to see the team hard at work. Tony and Ziva are examining the crime scene photos on the plasma and McGee is running the victim's photo through every database he can think of in an attempt to get an id that way. His phone rings. "Abby wants us."

**Next Chapter **- Abby's got nothing which means something.


	4. Chapter 4

Abby's Lab.

"What you got for us Abs?" Gibbs asks handing her a Caf-Pow.  
"No identification was found with John Doe's clothing. His blood showed no indication that he had been drugged or used drugs, he was not affected by alcohol or had any major illness that would show up in his blood."  
"So we've got nothing." Abby glares at Tony.  
"We got a partial print at the crime scene which I'm still running. I've also run the victim's prints through AFIS and all the usual places and there's no match anywhere."  
"That's not possible Abby. Are you _sure_ you checked everywhere?" Abby glares at McGee.  
"Sorry."  
"No prints anywhere" muses Gibbs.  
"That would mean he is not in the military, never held a government job, has no criminal record or" Ziva's eyes light up. "that someone removed his prints from the records." Abby finishes the sentence.  
"Is that possible McGee?"  
"Well Boss the person would need to hack into a DOD designed server secured with level nine encryption, find the right file with a search algorithm, delete all trace of it and disguise their tracks whilst doing so. So in theory"  
"McGee!"  
"Yes, someone could Boss. Though it would be nearly impossible unless you already had access to the system."  
"Probie only law enforcement agencies have access to all of those records. Are you saying that someone at one of them is somehow involved in a murder?" asks Tony looking highly doubtful.  
"That is precisely what I'm saying Tony." McGee stands his ground.  
"Just because you deduced it doesn't make it so McSherlock."  
"But Tony it's the only thing"  
"That makes sense." Gibbs finishes. The team stands for a moment in stunned silence.  
Abby's vid-phone pings to life showing an image of Ducky.  
"You there Jethro?"  
"Yes Ducky."  
"You better come down here and see what I've found."

**Next Chapter** - Ducky's discovery.


	5. Chapter 5

Autopsy.

As the team walks into autopsy Ducky limping slightly and leaning on a cane sits on a stool by the head of the autopsy table. "What happened to you Ducky?" "It's nothing Ziva my dear. Just a small accident involving mother and one of her corgis." Tony raises his eyebrows. "I do not wish to elaborate Tony. I simply have to keep the weight off it for a week. I wanted to tell you that the head trauma to our John Doe was caused after his death and the actual cause of death was a gunshot wound to the heart. I sent the bullet up to Abby."

"But what about all the blood Ducky? I saw...."  
"Yes, Tony that puzzled me too until Abby compared a sample from the crime scene to one taken from the victim. It did not match."  
"So we can place someone else at the scene?" Gibbs questions excitedly.  
"Unfortunately not. It was animal blood."  
"Someone shot our vic, hit him around the head, dumped him in Gibbs basement and then poured_ animal blood _around him? I will never understand Americans."  
"The wound on the back of his head was too messy for me to state conclusively what caused it apart from some type of blunt instrument. So no help there.

However, I know you're keen to get an identification and when we cleaned up the area surrounding the wound we found this. If you look closely at our John Doe's neck you can clearly see he has a tattoo of the letters ISIBCFN."  
"ISIBCFN; what is that?"  
"That I do not know Jethro. What I can tell you though based on the colouration of the ink and various other factors is that our John Doe received this tattoo only a day or two before his death. Also a careful examination shows that this tattoo is partially obscuring a much older one. I have sent pictures of the image up to Abby to see if she can tell us what the second one is or anything more about this one. You know this reminds me of a case when I was first starting out. The guy had a tattoo of"  
"Ah doctor" interrupts Jimmy.  
"Yes, Mr Palmer. What is it?"  
"Those letters" Jimmy stutters.  
"Spit it out autopsy gremlin."  
Jimmy holds up a pad with writing scribbled all over it and circled in the middle are the letters NCIS – FBI.  
"Someone is trying to get our attention."  
"You think DiNozzo!"  
They leave with Gibbs calling over his shoulder "That's good work doc and Jimmy."  
Palmer grins.

* * *

Abby's Lab.

"I've managed to separate the two tattoos and I've printed out the images for you. I've also emailed them to my tattoo woman to see if there's anything she can tell us about them."  
"What's the second tattoo Abby?"  
"I had to adjust the colour fill, contrast, brightness and shadowing and ..."  
"Abs!"  
"The second tattoo, oh great one, is an ice-cream cone with a capital letter N inside."  
"Things are getting stranger and stranger. This is like that movie. Actually I can't think"  
"DiNozzo!"  
Gibbs kisses Abby on the cheek taking the images from her as they leave. "Thanks Abby."

* * *

NCIS Squad Room.

"McGee get that image out to all law enforcement agencies electronically. Tony and Ziva work your contacts. See if they remember any cases or gang affiliations or anything at all involving an ice-cream cone tattoo. I'll get Ducky to do the same with the medical examiners. As Gibbs hangs up the phone after talking to Ducky the mailroom guy places his mail on the corner of his desk. A body, my basement, no id, missing fingerprint records and now tattoos of letters and an ice-cream cone. Nothing was making sense. Maybe it was time for a break.

New mailroom procedures had been put in place since the incident with Tony and the swak letter so Gibbs confidently picks his knife off his desk and is about to open the first envelope when a voice close by says "Put it down Gibbs. I know what's in it."

**Next Chapter **- What is in the envelope?


	6. Chapter 6

NCIS Squad Room.

"Fornell?"  
"It's a death threat Gibbs. I just opened mine. We may be able to get evidence off yours." The team has gathered around Gibbs desk. "A death threat Agent Fornell. What did it say?"  
Fornell looks at McGee like it's the most idiotic question he's ever been asked. McGee continues "If it contains specifics it might help us identify who sent it." "Not in this case. All it said was you're next."  
"What makes you think your letter is related to my body, this case and this letter?"  
"I recognized the colour of the envelope. Open it."  
Gibbs pulls a pair of gloves from his desk drawer, puts them on, slowly removes the letter from the envelope and places it on his desk. The team peer at the letter reading and absorbing the words you're next.  
"O.K. Fornell. I'm prepared to concede the two might be related."  
"Might be related. A murdered man in your basement and we both receive death threats. Quite a coincidence if it's not related don't you think Gibbs?"  
"I don't believe in coincidences Tobias. Get this down to Abby McGee." As McGee leaves the bullpen Ducky hobbles in angrily jabbing his cane in Fornell's direction.  
"What's wrong Duck?"  
"Why don't you ask Special Agent Fornell what he's hiding from us this time?"

**Next Chapter**- What has Fornell been hiding?


	7. Chapter 7

NCIS Squad Room.

Ducky sits at McGee's desk.

"I'm sorry Dr Mallard, I don't have a clue what you're talking about."  
"I was talking to a colleague at the state morgue who is most interested in our John Doe. It seems he had a body matching the description of our victim right down to the letters tattooed on his neck. He only had time to do a preliminary examination before the body was removed."  
"I don't understand what"  
"Removed by an FBI agent."  
"Are you keeping secrets from me again Fornell?"  
"I assure you Jethro I know nothing of this."  
"Would you tell me if you did?"  
"That hurts Gibbs. I got a death threat too. Let me make some calls and see if I can sort this out." Fornell walks away dialling his phone.  
"A death threat Gibbs?"  
"Someone doesn't like me or Fornell."  
"I find that hard to believe" Ducky responds sardonically.  
"We got these letters."  
"Gibbs, Dr Mallard. There is no record of anyone from the FBI claiming a body from the state morgue. Did your colleague say anything else doctor?"  
"All he said was that an agent from the FBI showed up whilst he was conducting his preliminary exam, flashed his credentials at him and took the body away in a van. Oh and he signed for the body with the name Ian Charles."  
McGee walks into the bullpen.  
"Right I want to know everything we can about anyone named Ian Charles involved in law enforcement. It's obvious he knows enough to impersonate an agent and as it's likely he had access to the fingerprint records I think it's a good place to start. Fornell see if you have anyone working in any section at the FBI with that name or variations of it or who has applied to join the agency in the past twelve months." Fornell walks away.  
"McGee you and Tony look for links between leos and cases worked by both Fornell and myself. Ziva you stay on the tattoo. Let's find this bastard."

**Next Chapter** – The meaning of the tattoo.


	8. Chapter 8

NCIS Squad Room – A short time later.

Fornell strides across the bullpen. "Got him. Seven months ago a Washington PD cop by the name of Ian Charles was rejected in his application to join the FBI. Here's his basic information." Fornell hands around some printouts.  
"If he applied to you how come you only have basic information on him?"  
"It appears his records have been deleted from our system."  
"Just like our victim's prints."  
"I'm trying to contact someone who met him."  
"Try harder Fornell. Let's use this information to try and obtain any biographical background we can if he hasn't deleted or altered that as well. Ziva concentrate on his family background. McGee his schooling. DiNozzo his professional life." "On it Boss" his team responds. They go about their appointed tasks.

"What's this?" asks Fornell as he picks up the image of the ice-cream cone tattoo from Gibbs desk.  
"That's the second tattoo that was on our victim's neck. It's why I called you over earlier. I just haven't had a chance to show you."  
'I know what that means and I think I know who the body in autopsy is too." Fornell looks pale. "The ice-cream cone tattoo with a capital letter N is the symbol of the upper level, the most trusted lieutenants in the Napalitano family."  
"I take it by family you don't mean relatives Tobias. What's with the ice-cream cone?"  
"It's a bad pun on Jimmy Naps part. Napalitano – Neapolitan; a native of Naples and"  
"An ice-cream in layers of different colours and flavours" Gibbs finishes incredulously. "So what happened to them after we sent Little Ricky to jail?"  
"Big Jimmy is still doing what he's always done. After Sal went missing a few years back Jimmy took on one of his cousins as his right hand man; Anthony Napalitano. He disappeared almost a week ago and I suspect is your John Doe."  
"So this Ian Charles kidnapped Tony Napalitano, had him tattooed, removed his records from AFIS at some point and then attempted to kill him by shooting him in the heart. Napalitano obviously got away, then died and ended up in the state morgue. Charles then collected him from the morgue by impersonating an FBI agent, hit him about the head,dumped him in my basement, splashed animal blood around and then sent us each a death threat."  
"That about sums it up."  
"This job is never dull."

**Next Chapter**– Who is Ian Charles and what is his connection to the Napalitanos, Gibbs and Fornell?


	9. Chapter 9

NCIS Squad Room – Continuing on from the previous conversation.

"Got something Boss."  
The team gathers in the centre of the bullpen.  
"Ian Charles has been a cop with the Washington PD for ten years. He's got an exemplary record, a couple of commendations and I spoke to a few contacts there and he has a reputation as a straight shooter."  
"Good skill for a cop."  
"No, Ziva. It means he's honest."  
"Then why didn't you just say that." Tony rolls his eyes.  
"He mostly worked white collar crime."  
"Charles got into forensic accounting in a big way. He took some specialized courses and had a real aptitude for it" McGee chimes in.  
"He grew up with an alcoholic mother and no father until he was seven. He was then fostered and subsequently adopted by the Charles family. I spoke to an old neighbour of theirs. She said Ian worshipped his older foster brother and followed him everywhere." Ziva adds.  
"David Charles" exclaim Gibbs and Fornell.  
"How did you know that?" Ziva queries.  
"They arrested Special Agent David Charles for being a mole in the FBI for the Napalitano family." Tony explains.  
"He was killed about a month into his sentence. Although a rival gang was blamed we always suspected Jimmy Naps did it to silence him." Fornell adds.  
"DiNozzo, David bring him in." Gibbs orders.

As they leave Gibbs phone rings.  
"I've got a match on the partial print for you Gibbs."  
"We know who it is Abby." She ignores him.  
"His name is Ian Charles. He's a DC cop and the best bit is he's the brother of"  
"Special Agent David Charles." Gibbs hangs up.  
Down in the lab Abby hugs Bert tightly. "I_ really_ hate it when he does that."

* * *

The Charles Residence – A short time later.

"I'm arresting you for the murder of Anthony Napalitano, threatening a federal agent, desecrating a body, using the postal service to send a threatening communication and anything else I can think of."  
"Tony!"  
"O.K. You have the right to remain…."

**Next Chapter** – Back in the basement.


	10. Chapter 10

Gibbs' Basement.

Gibbs is working on his boat and having a drink with Fornell. Fornell has filled his flask with his favourite scotch from a bottle given to him by Ducky to apologize for his accusation.

"All these years later I still haven't got Jimmy Naps for anything. Do you think being a son-of-a bitch is good for longevity?" he asks.

"It's worked for us hasn't it?"

The End.

Well that's it my first ever case fiction! As you've read I need some practice writing geek, forensic or Mossad assassin ;-) Hope you liked it. All reviews much appreciated. Gail.


End file.
